A Fraud's True Nature
by Ruu-chan
Summary: Vash’s dark side takes over and attacks an innocent village and anything in his path; including Meryl. He injures her tolerantly and now Meryl’s arabesque emotions dominion her substantial scars. Will she still love him anyway?


AN: Hey there! First let me start off by saying that I don't own Vash (even though I want him badly) and I don't own Merrill either. This is my first Trigun fic, and I don't really know much about the show. I know the basics of it, so please have mercy on me! ^^;; I don't know who owns Trigun exactly, but all you need to know is that I don't. I hope you enjoy it, and please review! I would appreciate your comments, especially since this is my first Trigun fic.  
  
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A FRAUD'S TRUE NATURE  
  
CHAPTER 1  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
As Meryl sat on the kitchen table, her eyes were facing that lonely and now mediocre cup of coffee, as she wonders why he was gone. It's been months since he's come back and all she's been doing is sitting there and she concernedly wondering where her man could be. She couldn't take this suspense anymore, this isolation from the world around her. She had to do something... Anything! Just anything! Her eyes triggered towards the door in front, and she couldn't handle but stand up with a tight clench of her fists.  
  
"I have to go with him," she thought, "I have to see him again..."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
She has traveled for days now, and still no sign of Vash. Was he really this far away from home? What would he ever accomplish by traveling such an indefinite amount of distance? She sighed as she then looked up and saw a town up ahead. She entered slowly and cautiously and was disgusted by the scenes before her...  
  
A young child was weakly dragging himself on the ground, as he grabbed Meryl's ankle and looked up mercifully towards that girl whom he hoped was his savior.  
  
"Please... help me..." the young boy slowly commenced sobbing forlornly, "I don't want to die!" A loud gun shot echoed throughout the sky as she bolted with caution and stared onto the source. She decided to hide behind an alley along with the boy as she then kneeled down and helped the young boy sit down. The wall supported his back as his flamboyant brown eyes glowed towards hers. He mumbled a thank you to Meryl, but she patted his head and looked at him comfortingly.  
  
"I'm not leaving you," she said, "don't despair..." She tried to smile as she spoke these soothing words, but deep inside she wanted to cry miserably for the poor thing. She didn't even know him too well, and somehow she felt connected somehow to this boy. She tried her best to clean away his tears amongst all the sand and blood on his face. The poor boy grinned and sighed as he groaned in pain due to the wound in his arm.  
  
Meryl looked on out and saw the blood spilled on the sandy surface of the newly official ghost town. So many corpses scattered about, so many blank faces as still as time. Not a single soul roamed about freely. Not a single one... She couldn't believe why she even suggested following him in the first place. She could've stayed back home and continue on with her life as a normal woman. But she didn't choose that fate...  
  
She chose to follow him...  
  
Vash the Stampede...  
  
The Legendary Typhoon...  
  
The Diablo himself...  
  
She kneeled down on the ground and her eyes were shining, as tears eventually streamed down her cheeks and took over her senses. Even children are dead. Poor, innocent and blissfully spirited children... Dead! So many young faces covered in red. Even the thought of the color was making the poor woman shiver with disgust. How could he do this to them? How could he do this to her? After he gave her his word? What inspired him to commit such a superfluous massacre?  
  
"Oh, Vash..." she whispered, her heart encouraging her to not sob. But she had to be strong... for Vash... for her life... for her love...  
  
But what would happen if they do catch him? What will she do? Her life would be meaningless if Vash wasn't around. She would rather go to jail with him rather than to live alone. She couldn't stand the thought of not having his arms to embrace her, or to smile at her and relieve her from her burdens and troubles. She couldn't imagine pulling it through without him. She was in too deep...  
  
But something interfered in her chain of thoughts as she heard the sound of footsteps, approaching ever so menacingly. Through the smoke and debris around her, two sparks of immaculate shine flickered through the dust. Merrill wished it was who she thought it was. She hoped to see those sky blue eyes she's always loved. But no matter how much she wished and begged in thought, the man she was hoping for wasn't there.  
  
She saw an evil man in front of her. The smoke cleared eventually, and the red-clothed killer stood erectly 10 feet away from her. His yellow glasses shined as the sun burnt unwaveringly upon them. The gun in his hand cocked loudly as his lips showed no curve or joy or sadness. He wanted to kill every person in this town. He wanted every one of them dead. And as he saw this young woman kneeling on the ground, he felt his job was not finished yet. He had to kill the girl. He had no choice.  
  
"Vash...?" she asked silently as she looked at him, his gun aiming straight to her forehead. Meryl was in the verge of sobbing, but her heart made her not do anything so foolish. She could see the evil darkness inside the blond man's eyes. They weren't the same... Those eyes were different and yet so alike in some figurative way.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
He thought he destroyed every person in this town. He didn't know there were still survivors amongst the bloodshed. He looked at this woman with confusing thoughts as she called his name. He didn't recognize who this woman was... How does she know? Has he met her before? Does he know her? Have they met? He cocked his gun again, as Meryl shivered with fear as she looked at him with gloomy eyes of sorrow.  
  
"Vash... don't you... remember me?" she asked. He noticed her voice was trembling, as she slowly started rising to her feet. His face has not altered or changed, as he saw the young victim stand and look at him with those blue-gray eyes.  
  
But unexpectedly, he fired the bullet. The gunshot echoed all around, as Meryl looked at him with wide eyes and an open mouth. After so long, she still wasn't dead. Not even wounded.  
  
He missed... But she didn't care about that. All that mattered is that she was there, and so was he.  
  
"Vash...?" she called out again. Vash's mind placed itself in a state of vacuity. He couldn't feel nothing or do nothing. His mind was in some kind of alternate universe, but he knew his body looked as darker as ever.  
  
Then he opened his eyes, and saw a more gentle-looking man with same face and same raiment. He seemed to show more liveliness in his eyes, as he looked down a mirror and witnessed the scene occurring at the moment.  
  
"Hey, what are you doing? That's Meryl! You can't kill her!" he said as he stood up glaring at the devil-spirited killer.  
  
"She needs to be terminated," said the dark man, "or else my mission will not reach its end..."  
  
"But-you can't kill Meryl! I'm in love with her!"  
  
"Feelings are for the feeble and the futile-hearted," said the other, "especially a feeling like love..."  
  
"Get away from me right now!" said Vash. The killer cocked his gun towards his duplicate copy, and scoffed.  
  
"I don't care if you're in love with her... You and I are in the same mind. We can't escape from each other... this body is only good enough for one of us..." He then smirked. "And I don't like to lose..."  
  
"What...? One mind? What are you saying?" Vash questioned cautiously as he kept his gun erect towards his cloned rival.  
  
"Let's just say it's a bipolar disorder: we have a good side and we have a bad side. Eventually, one of these sides has to dominate over the other one and devour it... And thus make the Legendary Typhoon existent for the rest of time. But to nature's feebleness, the soul cannot choose which side I wants to take. And thus you and I stand here now in a duel...  
  
"It's this moment that determines our future. Well, at least mine... You won't cease to exist after I eliminate you..." Vash growled as he said these words. He couldn't believe he was fighting with himself...literally! This was so confusing... were they in some kind of dimension? He couldn't understand...  
  
But as they both stood there, Meryl was trembling as she let a few tears roll down her face and onto the ground. She looked at him befuddled by a sudden twitch of his finger. He slowly twitched his nose, his face, and even his toes. He began to tremble ever so slowly, letting out a scream of pain while grasping his head with his hands.  
  
Meryl grew less tense as she grabbed the boy more towards her and looked worriedly towards Vash.  
  
"What's wrong with him, ma'am?" the little boy asked.  
  
What was wrong with him? Why did he seem to be in so much pain? She saw his red raiment dirty with sand as he knelt down yieldingly in a weakened position. She wanted to help him so badly, to just touch him in the shoulders and console him instantaneously. But she dared not even look at him. The fact that he was in pain and she could do nothing to make it lesser was something she dared not think about. It was way too much for her...  
  
"I don't know..." she merely answered.  
  
In Vash's mind, the two duplicates stared at each other, with faces as blank as the clouds in their skies. The evil one smiled slyly, pointing his gun towards Vash.  
  
"Let's get this over with, weakling...!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
So? What did you think? I hope you liked it and understood it. I'll update when I get 5+ reviews. Is that too much to ask? *puppy eyes* I hope not ^^;; Well tell me thoughts, aight?  
  
Peace out, minna-san! ^ - ^  
  
~*~ Ruu-chan 


End file.
